Bombs Over Byker
★★★★☆ Pacy
Greenside @ Riddles Court (Venue 16): Fri 7- Sat 29 Aug 2026 (not 16, 23)
Review by Ed Boulter-Comer
Bombs Over Byker from Lucas English is a show with some big ideas, crammed into the smallest of venues at Clover Studio at Greenside @ Riddles Court.
The story follows River, a hapless recent graduate who is desperate to identify as anything but the Upper-Middle Class man he is. A series of family disasters sees him and some close relatives move from their countryside idyll to Newcastle to live with River’s very much not Upper-Middle Class grandmother. He meets the locals. Riot ensues.
Lucas English in Bombs Over Byker. Pic Ewan Speight
Writer/performer English inhabits the main role with ease as well as supplying a cornucopia of others that range from caricatures to genuine characters. He has a strong grip of tone and regionality to his accents. The script is thoughtful and, as well as pushing the narrative forward, allows for a delve into globalisation, class politics and a vague anxiety about war and the end of civilisation.
Bombs Over Byker should be snapped up as a radio play, but English nevertheless gives a genuine sense of place to proceedings. Ewan Speight stretches the lighting design beyond the minimal tech on offer and English’s own sound design is on point. When that is combined with the strongly physical performance he delivers, the effect is more than the sum of its parts. It is a pacy 50 minutes.
At twenty seats capacity, this is a show that deserves to be overbooked for the rest of its run.
Running time: 50 minutes (no interval).
Greenside @ Riddles Court (Clover Studio), 322 Lawnmarket, EH1 2PG (Venue 16).
Friday 7 – Saturday 29 August 2026.
Daily (Not Suns): 2.55pm.
Tickets and details: Book here at EdFringe.com.
Lucas English Instagram: @__lucasenglish__
ENDS
